Booby Traps Series: Jury duty is sometimes a trial for nursing moms.

Written by Tanya Lieberman, IBCLC

Jett asked the judge to postpone her service until the summer because she was breastfeeding and was her children’s sole caretaker. She asked for a postponement until the summer, when her mother, a teacher, could take care of her children.

That request was denied, and her date of summons passed. Jett was then told to report to the court, where she was held in contempt and sentenced to a night in jail or a fine. “I was just shocked,” Jett told a newspaper. “I couldn’t even put it into words.”

A bill that would have allowed nursing mothers to postpone (not cancel) their jury duty service had failed a few years prior to this incident. In defense of it’s demise, Brian Frosh, Chair for the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said “If you start saying, we’re gonna excuse people for breastfeeding, you’ve gotta say ok to kidney dialysis, chemotherapy and all the other maladies that afflict the human condition.”

This sounds like a completely absurd statement – of course people undergoing chemotherapy should not be compelled to serve on a jury – but I assume that what this man was arguing was that the law shouldn’t need to delineate each and every health condition justifying an excusal or postponement. That would make for a cluttered code. And judges can already exercise their discretion to excuse people in these situations.

Fair enough. But since breastfeeding is relatively recent in resurgence, and since judges, who tend to be male and may have come of age when breastfeeding was less common, may be unfamiliar with the needs of nursing moms, treatment of breastfeeding moms can be quite uneven. Every judge knows that someone undergoing chemo would likely experience hardship if compelled to serve; not every judge knows that a breastfeeding mother may experience hardship, too.

In contrast to Jett’s experience, there are many stories of mothers having no trouble at all postponing or being excused from service while breastfeeding. You may have one of them.

I served on a few years ago, in a state with no law regarding breastfeeding mothers. The judge in the case used her discretion quite extensively. She asked each member of the jury pool if there was any reason why serving on the jury would present a significant hardship. She cited as examples the need to care for children or elderly relatives, medical procedures, and even stated that since we live in an area with lots of colleges students, she would excuse any student who would miss class. Another time when I was called in for jury duty, a diabetic man asked during screening whether he would be allowed breaks to eat, check his blood sugar, and take insulin. Of course, said the judge.

But there has been enough concern over court’s treatment of breastfeeding mothers that, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, thirteen states and Puerto Rico have laws addressing breastfeeding and jury duty. These states are California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia. They vary from excusing mothers to allowing for postponements. Other states may provide exemptions through the court rules or regulations. Some states have more broad excusal provisions for caretakers of young children.

If you don’t live in one of those states, your experience depends on the individual judge involved.

As Jake Marcus, a lawyer with expertise in law relating to breastfeeding mothers, points out, “I live in Pennsylvania where state law offers no excuse or exemption from jury duty for breastfeeding or caretaking for a family member. However, in my county I was excused each of the 4 times I was called while I was breastfeeding. One county over women have been threatened with contempt citations for even asking for postponing due to either breastfeeding or being a primary caretaker.”

1) See if your state has a law allowing you to postpone or be excused from jury duty. If so, follow the state’s directions to exercise your right.

2) If there is no exemption, write a polite letter requesting a postponement or excuse. Address it to the person in charge of jury service, or the head judge of the court. If possible, include a note from your child’s doctor stating that he or she is exclusively breastfed. The letter should state that the mother is willing to do jury duty at a future time.

3) Note that in states with no law on this topic, the court’s decision may depend upon factors such as the age of the child, and whether the mother is already employed outside the home.

4) If you must serve while breastfeeding, ask for time and a clean, private place to pump.

Ideally, judges would recognize that for a breastfeeding mother and child, jury duty may present a hardship comparable to any other medical or caretaking one, and use their discretion accordingly. Mothers, for our part, should recognize that jury duty is a civic responsibility and be prepared to serve at a time when it would not cause an undue hardship. But until judges (who remain predominately male) recognize the hardship that service can represent for nursing mothers, state laws allowing mothers to postpone service or make appropriate accommodations appear to still be necessary.

Were you called for jury duty while breastfeeding? Did you ask for a postponement because of it? What did the judge say?

Since the National Conference of State Legislators website has been updated, Michigan passed a law allowing moms an exemption during the period in which she is breastfeeding with a note from a physician, LC, or CNM. Yay!

I live in Iowa, where being the mother of a breastfeeding child is an acceptable reason for being excused for jury duty. However, being a SAHM is not. Here is my story, which is proof that even in states with laws to protect breastfeeding mothers, sometimes, it’s still not enough. :/

I was called while still pregnant with my youngest. He would have been 6 weeks at the time I was to serve. I was able to go online and request an excusal. I was granted a deferral for one year. One year later, still a SAHM of a 12 month old and a 3 year old (with 5 more school-age), I went online and requested an excusal for the second time. I was granted another deferral, this time for 6 weeks. O.o I suppose it was to give me time to wean??? Baby was still pretty much exclusively nursing, as he was showing very little interest in solids. *sigh* 6 weeks later, I received another summons, went online and requested an excusal. I was granted yet another deferral, for 6 months. When 6 months passed, DS was still breastfeeding frequently enough that I couldn’t leave him all day, so I tried to go online to request an excusal, but was denied and told I was out of deferrals. Hello, I am requesting an EXCUSAL. So, I sent the form in by snail mail, outlining my reasons for requesting to be excused, and was DENIED. I had to appear. Fortunately, my DH is a priest, as I don’t have access to child care, so I dropped the 2 littlest ones off with him at church and headed to the courthouse. I made it onto a case, and made it through 2 cuts of voir dire. I was getting nervous. Finally, the defense attorney, a nervous young girl fresh out of school, asked me if there was anything that might prevent me from being able to give a thoughtful verdict in this case. I took a deep breath, and with a shaky voice began to explain to a room full of strangers the physical effects of going an entire day without nursing my child. I could go one day, but beyond that, it would be both physically and psychologically hard for me. I went on about engorgement, and pain, and how my mind would be on my child instead of on the facts of the case. He had never had a bottle, and was still getting most of his nutrition from me. I do not own a pump, and was not able to purchase one at the time. After I was done, a very red-faced judge sputtered and coughed while telling me I was excused and would not have to serve for 2 years. On my way out of the courtroom, I was high-fived by an L&D nurse who told me I was her hero, and she wished that more mothers would admit publicly that they were breastfeeding past the age of one, and thanked me for educating people that day. <3

For moms in WA state, if you are having trouble figuring out the policies of the county you live in or are encountering problems, check out “Family Friendly Jury Duty – Washington State” on Facebook. There are people there who are familiar with the policies of different counties and can help you out!